We booked a big farmhouse for our daughter's Cotswolds wedding but the owner cancelled it. Why won't Booking.com help? SALLY SORTS IT
In May 2023 we booked a big farmhouse close to the church and reception venue for our daughter’s wedding in the Cotswolds this summer.
It can take most of the family — 11 adults and two dogs — and will be the hub on the day with make-up and hairdressers and wedding cars booked to come to the property. We paid the full bill in late May this year at a cost of £1,600.
Now the owner has informed us they are no longer renting it out and apparently informed Booking.com of this eight months ago. Booking.com refutes this and will not action any relocation until it receives confirmation from the property owner or until after check-in at 3pm on June 27, two days before the wedding.
I have contacted Booking.com on four occasions and always get the same scripted response that we must wait until after check-in opens on the day of arrival before it can help. What can Booking.com realistically do at 3pm on a Thursday to find us an alternative property for 11 adults and 2 dogs? This is causing significant stress.
C.R., Kent.
Sally Hamilton replies: I empathise with your plight as my eldest daughter got married 18 months ago and we also carefully arranged many months ahead for us to stay in a property near the wedding venue so family could prepare for the nuptials. Had we been faced with a booking cancellation so near the big day, I’m not sure my already shredded nerves would have coped.
With wedding season upon us, I expect many families will be interested in how to escape such a tricky situation. As you explained to me, you did try to resolve this issue and contacted customer services but didn’t get anywhere, which is why you came to me. But perhaps you were unlucky on this occasion.
The suggestion of waiting until the check-in day before Booking.com would take any action was preposterous.
I contacted the company on your behalf to ask it to help save the day by tracking down another property that would accommodate you and your family.
A couple of days later you received the wedding gift you were hoping for with my involvement. Booking.com managed to find and book an alternative house for you — and importantly agreed to cough up what turned out to be significant extra rental costs.
Due to the limited choice of accommodation so close to the date, the bill for the new property was £2,621, which was £1,021 more than for your original booking. Booking.com said it would refund the difference immediately after the wedding.
When I checked in with you last week you confirmed you had the money in the bank two days after you left the property. I’m pleased to report your daughter managed to get hitched without any further hitches plus I was chuffed when you told me Sally Sorts It got a mention in your father-of-the-bride’s speech. I suspect that’s a first for this column.
A Booking.com spokesman says: ‘Our aim is to always enable smooth travel experiences and in the very rare instance that there might be an issue with a specific property, then customers should contact our customer service team for further support.’
MY son is having a problem with the Driver and Vehicle Licensing Agency — DVLA — over the renewal of his driving licence.
When completing the forms online a few months ago he accidentally ticked the wrong box about being drug and alcohol dependent, so the DVLA wrote back saying his licence was cancelled.
He is a plasterer and needs his van to carry all his tools and get to his jobs. The situation risks putting him in severe financial hardship as he has a wife and two teenage daughters to support. Please help.
D.T., Hove, East Sussex.
YOU told me your son has rung DVLA numerous times in an attempt to correct what was a simple — but as it turns out, disastrous — error. He is neither drug nor alcohol dependent. But a slip of the computer key has triggered a chain of events that has left him unable to drive his van for months.
As is required by the DVLA in such cases, he had to arrange for a letter to be sent from his GP confirming he is fit to drive and has no drink and drug issues. He did his best to resolve the matter on his own but still there is no licence to show for it. As his dad, you were anxious to help him but weren’t sure where to turn.
You both had hoped he could rely on a special concession under Section 88 of the Road Traffic Act 1988 that in some circumstances permits motorists to continue driving even though they do not hold a current driving licence.
However, this did not apply in your son’s case as his licence was revoked while the DVLA checked his medical history in more detail — the letter from the GP was apparently not enough to prove he could drive a vehicle safely.
Your son was understandably distressed — and well out of pocket — as to accept plastering jobs he has had to pay a driver to take him to work. Since he was getting nowhere fast with the DVLA, I asked it if it could accelerate its investigations.
The day after I intervened, DVLA called your son to confirm he would be getting his licence back imminently. But I had to chase again when the licence still didn’t arrive. Two weeks later he received his licence, and he told me he was over the moon to be back behind the wheel.
This case is a lesson to us all to take care when completing forms. I loathe filling in forms and when it is a particularly important one, I ask a family member to look over it in case they spot something I have missed. I recommend, dear readers, to do the same.
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